Railway car side door



Dec. 15,; 1942. c. D. BoNsALL 2,305,131

RAILWAY CAR SID'EVDOOR Filed Jan. 21, 1941 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 15, 1.942. c. D. BoNsALL RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOOR VI Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 21, 1941 Patented Dec. 15, 1942 RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOOR `Charles D. Bonsall, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Standard Railway Devices Company, a corporation of Delaware Application January 21, 1941, Serial No. 375,215

(Cl. Ztl- 22) l@ Claims.

The invention relates to side doors for railway cars and specifically to the fixtures or operating mechanism for such doors, which doors are commonly arranged to slide in planes substantially parallel with the side walls of the car. travel of such doors is approximately equal to the width of the door opening so that the doors vmay be moved into alignment with the opening or entirely out of alignment with such opening.

The invention relates particularly to the type Aof lower edge of the door opening, and is provided 1f with depressions. The depressions are somewhat deeper than the distance by which the rollers extend below the roller housings so that when the door is moved to a position wherein the rollers are above the depressions, contact be- I tween the rollers and the track is relieved and the door is supported by parts of the rol-ler housings or other members secured to the door resting upon the track orr other fixed part or parts of the car. The friction between the members secured to the door and parts secured to the car is suiiicient to prevent easy'moving of the door. The depressions in the track are positioned so that this frictional resistance to moving is effective when the door is in the full open or full closed position and so that the rollers roll upon the track when the door is in any position between the full open and full closed.

Railroad regulations require that before a Icar is moved, the door thereof should be absolutely locked so as to prevent sliding of the door duringservice movements of the car. This regulation is not universally complied with and railroad operators often rely upon the above mentioned frictional resistance to prevent movement of the door. This frictional resistance has proved to be insulicient in certain cases; injuries to operators, as well as damages to the car and the door, have resulted as a consequence.

An object of the invention is to increase the The Another object of the invention is to move the door inwardly of the car and closer to the door opening as the door is moved into fully closed position. Such movement more effectively seals the door opening so as to prevent the entrance of moisture and other foreign matter, as wel-l as cold air, into the car.

Another object is to reduce the tendency of doors to jump off the track. A railway car is subject to violent shocks during service and the door consequently has a tendency to bounce up and down during such shocks. The hood arrangement at the top of the door commonly restricts the upward movement of the door so as to prevent jumping off the track, but such hoods have been known to become displaced somewhat, thereby increasing the danger of losing the door. I have incorporated means associated with the track and rollers to reduce the danger of losing the door by an upward movement thereof.

Other objects and. advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following detailed descriptions by referring to the accompanying drawings. v

In the drawings:

Fig. l. is a side elevation of a portion of a railway box car showing a side door incorporating my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show details of the block element which is applied to the track as hereinbelow described.

Fig. 6 is a section on line B-G of Fig. 2.

Fig. '7 is a View similar to Fig. 6 showinga modified construction.

In the railway box car shown in Figs. 1 andy 2, the upper chord of the sidewall -2 is formed by the sideplate 4 and the lower chord is formed by the angle shaped side sill 5. A portion of the upstanding leg l of the sidesill 5 is cut away at the doorway in order-to provide access to the interior of the car. A bulb-angle 8 having the bulbed leg l0 depending is secured to thelbottomof the side sill 5 and extends along that portion of the side sill 5 having the upstanding leg 'l partly out away; that is, the bulb angle reinforces the side sill 5 at the doorway. The track upon which the door moves comprises an inwardly facing and horizontally extending channel member Il disposed with its web I3 substantially vertical. 'I-'he channel track Il is supported by spaced apart brackets l@ extending between and secured to the bulb angle 8 and to the track Il. The end of thetrack remote from thedoorway is supported .in the track I I.

by an angle clip IE depending from the side sill and to which the track is attached by a bracket I1 similar to those heretofore described.

The side door 25 of the car has for its upper frame member a W-section strip 2B and for its lower frame member an angle strip 28. Vertical frame members 29 extend between and are secured to the upper and lower frame members. A roller housing 3I, 32 is disposed at each lower corner of the door 25 and arranged to function also as a gusset to connect and reinforce the adjacent ends of the vertical (29) and horizontal (28) frame members at the corners of the door. Each of said housings has a roller 34 pivotally mounted therein and projecting a small distance therebelow so as to engage the upper flange 35 of the channel track member II. Each roller housing 3|, 32 preferably has a part 31 depending on the inside of the track II and another part 38 depending on the outside of the track;

`such parts 31, 38 being spaced apart a distance Isomewhat greater than the width of the upper .flange 35 of the channel track I I so as to provide a guide for the door during its rolling movement upon the track.

'Fne track II is depressed at certain positions (42) which are positioned so that when the door '25 is in the fully open or fully closed position, the

rollers 34 are dispo-sed above the depressions 42 Each roller housing 3I, 32 has a` pad 43 disposed immediately above the track II and the depressions 42 in the track are deeper than the distance by which the rollers 34 extend below the roller housings 3 I, 32 so that when the rollers are above the depressions, the pads 43 rest upon the upper flange 35 of the track II. The weight of the door 25 is thus supported on the pads 43 and the sliding friction between such pads 43 and the track II is sufficient to prevent veasy movement of the door when such door is in full open or full closed positions. When the door is in any position between the full open and full closed positions, the rollers 34 roll upon the undepressed parts of the track II and the door 25 is easily movable from one position to another. A starting handle 45 for use when the door is in full open or closed position is pivotally mounted upon the door 25 and brackets 46 are mounted `upon the track I I so that the large leverage provided by the handle 45 may be used to slide the pads 43 over the track until the rollers reach the undepressed parts of the track and thereby permit easy rolling of the door. A

The inner part 31 of either or preferably both housings 3 I, 32 which depend below the body part of the housing has a substantially horizontal leg 50 which projects into the channel track II. The leg 5U is arranged to engage with the upper flange 35 of the track II so as to prevent the door 25 jumping off the track I I if such jumping should be permitted by any wrong or inaccurate positioning of the interlocking hood 5I, top door framermember 26 and sealing member 53 arranged at the upper part of the door opening. The upstanding nger 54 on the door cooperates with the hood 5I to help guide the upper edge of the door.

Block elements 60 are secured to the track II, preferably within the channel, and at positions determined as hereinafter described. The thickness of the block 6I! is proportioned so that the thickness of the block Si! plus the thickness of the web I3 of the channel track I I is substantially equal to and preferably slightly greater than the clearance between the outer part 38 of the roller housing 3I, 32 and the outer edge 63 of the leg 5B. Each block 60 is positioned so that when, the rollers 34 are above the depression 42 the blck is interposed between the inner (31) and outer (38) parts of the roller housing 3I or 32. The blocks 60 preferably each have a beveled edge 64 (see Figs. 3 to 5) so that as a roller housing 3I, 32 approaches a block 50, the leg 50 rides up onto the block. It is preferable that the thickness of the block 60 plus the thickness of the web I3 be slightly greater than the clearance between the outer part 38 and the leg 53 so that the roller housing 3I, 32 which is commonly made from a malleable cast iron, may spread apart and provide a clamping action on the block 60. The frictional resistance inherent in such clamping action retards movement of the door.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7, the block 10 is formed with all edges square and the leg 1I is beveled (13) so that it may ride up onto the block 10.

As hereinabove pointed out, there is clearance between the inner (31) and outer (38) depending parts of the roller housings 3I, 32 so that as the door 25 rolls along the track, considerable in and out movement is permitted. As the door appreaches the fully closed position, the block elements 60 function to move the entire door inwardly toward the car and thereby form a door .seal to prevent the entrance of foreign matter into the car.

Also, as hereinabove pointed out, there is a tendency for the door 25 to jump off the track I I during service movements of the car. The above mentioned clamping action between the depending parts 31, 33 of the housings 3I, 32 and the block elements 60 also retards any tendency of the door to bounce and thereby jump off the track.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to ythe exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. In a railway car having a door opening in a side wall thereof, a horizontally extending track supported adjacent said doorway, a door, roller mounting means carried by said door and having rollers adapted to roll upon said track, at least one of said means having parts arranged on opposite sides of said track, an element attached to said track in the path of said parts forming with the track a portion having an overall thickness substantially equal to but slightly greater than the distance between said parts, thereby retarding movement of said door when said means is adjacent said element.

2. In a railway car having a door opening in a side wall thereof, a horizontally extending track supported adjacent the lower part of said doorway, a door, roller mounting means carried by said door and having rollers adapted to roll upon said track, said track having downwardly offset portions arranged so that a rigid part of said door rests upon said track when the rollers are above the offset portions, thereby retarding movement of said door, at least one of said means having parts arranged on opposite sides of said track, an element attached to said track in the path of said parts formingwith the track a portion having an overall thickness substantially equal to but slightly greater than the distance between said parts, said parts being engaged with said portion when the rollers are above the offset portions, thereby further retarding movement of said door.

3. In a railway car having a door opening in a side wall thereof, a horizontally extending track supported adjacent said doorway, said track comprising an inwardly facing channel member arranged with its web substantially vertical, a door, roller mounting means carried by said door and having rollers adapted to roll upon said track, at least one of said means having parts arranged on opposite sides of said track, the inner of said parts having a leg projecting within said channel member, an element attached to said track within said channel member having a thickness in combination with the web of said channel member substantially equal to but slightly greater than the distance between said leg and the outer of said parts, thereby retarding movement of said door when said means is adjacent said element.

4. In a railway car having a door opening in a side wall thereof, a horizontally extending track supported adjacent said doorway, said track comprising a channel member arranged with its web substantially vertical, a door, roller mounting means carried by said door and having rollers adapted to roll upon said track, at least one of said means having parts arranged on opposite sides of said track, one of said parts having a leg projecting within said channel member, an element attached to said track within said channel mem-ber having a thickness in combination with the web of saidv channel member substantially equal to but slightly greater than the distance between said leg and the other of said parts, thereby retarding movement of said door when said means is adjacent said element.

5. In a railway car having a door opening in a side wall thereof, a horizontally extending track supported adjacent said doorway, a door, roller mounting means carried by said door and having rollers adapted to roll upon said track, at least one of said means having parts arranged on opposite sides of said track, an element attached to said track in the path of said parts forming with the track a portion having an overall thickness substantially equal to but slightly greater than the distance between said parts, thereby retarding movement of said door, said element having a beveled edge to facilitate engagement with one of said parts.

6. In a railway car having a door opening in a side wall thereof, a horizontally extending track supported adjacent said doorway, a door, roller mounting means carried by said door and having rollers adapted to roll upon said track, at least one of said means having parts arranged on opposite sides of said track, an element attached to said track in the path of said parts forming with the track a portion having an overall thickness substantially equal to but slightly greater than the distance between said parts, thereby retarding movement of said door, one of said parts having a beveled edge to facilitate engagement with said element.

7. In a railway car having a door opening in a side wall thereof, a horizontally extending track supported adjacent said doorway, a door, rollers pivotally mounted upon said door and adapted to roll upon said track, means secured to said door and having parts arranged on opposite sides of said track, an element attached to said track in the path of said parts forming with the track a portion having an overall thickness substantially equal to but slightly greater than the distance between said parts, thereby retarding movement of said door when said means is adjacent said element.

8. In a railway car having a door opening in a side wall thereof, a horizontally extending track supported adjacent said doorway, a door, roller mounting means carried by said door and having rollers adapted to roll upon said track, said means comprising parts arranged on both sides of said track in fixed spaced apart relation, and means associated with said track fitting snugly between said parts in a predetermined position of said door, thereby retarding movement of the door when in said predetermined position.

9. In a railway car having a door opening in a side wall thereof, a horizontally extending track supported adjacent the lower part of said doorway, a door, roller mounting means carried by said door and having rollers adapted to r-oll upon said track, said means comprising parts depending on both sides of said track in fixed spaced apart relation, and means associated with said track fitting snugly between said parts in a predetermined position of said door, thereby retarding movement of the door when in said predetermined position.

10. In a railway car having a door opening in a side wall thereof, a horizontally extending track supported adjacent said doorway, a door, rollers pivotally mounted upon said door and adapted to roll upon said track, means having parts arranged on both sides of said track in fixed spaced apart relation, and means associated with said track fitting `snugly between said parts in a predetermined position of said door, thereby retarding movement of the door when in said predeter mined position.

CHARLES D. BONSALL. 

